Birthday
by athenagirl87445
Summary: Clary helps one little Shadowhunter have the best birthday ever. Don't own Mortal Instruments. Not copyright infringement intended.
1. Soldier

Clarissa Fray stood on the third step from the massive cathedral that cast its shadow through her fiery red hair_. The Institute_. She thought. With her green paisley duffel bag over her shoulder, she climbed the last three steps to face the giant and elegantly carved doors to slide her key into the lock. The door clicked and she steped inside.

Walking swiftly down the center aisle of pews, she made her way to the elevator, opened the gate, and closed it behind her with a bang. She went to press the button, but it was blocked with a hastily scribbled note taped to it. She recognized the handwriting immediately as she plucked the message off the button and pressed. On the bumpy way up, she read:

Clary,

Ravener demon attack in TriBeCa.

Chinese in the fridge. Be home soon.

-J

"Alone again." she sighed as the elevator came to a stop. While she pulled open the ever-sticky gate, she had very conflicting emotions about the fact that he hadn't bothered to tell her there was an attack. She felt almost excluded, but as soon as she remembered the fact that she had only been in Shadowhunter training for a year and had read that it was a Ravener…well, she was just happy she didn't have to deal with one of _those_ again.

Passing through the large living room, she walked down the silent corridor to her bedroom. Technically, it wasn't really her room, but since she often came to the Institute for training with Jace, she kept some of her things here just in case (clothes, bathing products, art supplies, books, etc.). Even though the Institute could house over two hundred Shadowhunters, she was very glad that Maryse and Robert didn't mind. She had picked this room for two reasons: One was the fact that when you looked out the window, you could see the sun rise over the East river. Her mother always told her that a window with a view was perfect inspiration for any painting. The second was the fact that Jace's room was only a couple of doors down. But if her mother figured that out, she would be in a "heap of Jocelyn trouble" as Luke would say it.

_She really didn't even want me to stay here._ She thought as Clary recalled the last argument they had had together. Jocelyn and Luke had been recently called to Idris for a formal council meeting and had to leave New York for a week to discuss details on the new way things were "run" in the Shadoworld. Clary had arraigned to stay at Simon's place, but his cousin's bar mitzvah was this weekend, and his family had to travel to Pennsylvania for the week. Since Clary really didn't have any other friends or relatives in the city, the only option was the Institute. The two main reasons why Jocelyn had fought Clary about staying at the Institute was 1: Maryse and Robert Lightwood would also have to travel to Idris as well, and they wouldn't be home, and 2: She wasn't exactly keen on the idea that her daughter would be sleeping in the same house as her boyfriend. However, after much debating, Jocelyn gave in.

Throwing her bag on the bed, Clary started folding clothes and placing them in the dresser. She had just kicked off her shoes when she heard a voice.

She froze, listening. She heard it again. It was faint and small, but she could tell it belonged to a male.

A _young_ male.

Clary felt her body unfreeze as she heard it again. She was supposed to be alone. Everyone was either in Idris or out slaying demons. Nobody could get into the Institute unless they had permission from the Shadowhunters in residence, and of course the Shadowhunters themselves. Could they? She slowly pulled the seraph blade Jace always wanted her to have, just in case, from her bag.

"Dabriel" She spoke under her breath and the blade grew in length, pulsing with a blue light. She crept out of her bedroom and down the hall with the soundless placidity that Jace had showed her in one of her training sessions.

There was a door that was sitting slightly ajar a couple of rooms down from her. Dabriel in hand, she jumped to pose at the edge of the door sill. She would do it. If it was a demon, she would slay it in three…two…

"One!" She cried as she jumped into the room with the blade pointed directly at the being's heart. She looked down the blade's shaft to see the creature's face.

It was a boy, a young boy with jet black hair and glasses around his electric blue eyes.

"Ahh! What are you doing? Are you crazy?" The boy jumped from his spot on the floor where he was playing with small, wooden red and blue toy soldiers, scattering them everywhere.

Clary immediately lowered the blade. "Max? Why are you here? Shouldn't you be in Idris with your parents?"

"Clary? What are you doing with a seraph blade pointed at me?" Max retorted, one soldier still in his hand.

"Touché. Sorry." Heart still pumping wildly, she set Dabriel on the floor, watching as it shrunk and its blue light dimmed.

The youngest Lightwood cautiously sat back down next to his toys and proceeded to remake his wooden battle scene. "I'm here because my parents weren't allowed to bring me to Idris and the others wouldn't let me come demon hunting with them, both because I'm to young. Again. You?" He said without a glance towards her.

"My parents are in Idris too. I have to where else to go." Clary looked down to see a soldier at her foot. She picked it up and sat down next to Max, placing the little man at his foot.

"Thanks, but why aren't you out kicking demon butt like the others?"

Clary smiled. "They didn't tell me. I guess they were in a rush or something. It was a Ravener, so I'm not sure if I wanted to be there. I'm not a big fan of those."

Max returned the smile. "No one is, but are you sure you were not sent here to babysit me?" He set a couple of soldiers in red coats on the front line and began placing blue coats on the opposing line.

"Actually, no one told me you were going to be here."

"That doesn't surprise me." His face was solemn, but lightly angered.

"What? How come?" she said.

"I guess I'm used to it by now. While you and the others go off and have awesome adventures, I'm stuck here. I'm used to being alone too. That's why I didn't hear the elevator when you came in."

"That seems like a lonely way to live."

"I don't blame you guys. How can you take a little kid whose never been trained in Shadowhunting? I would just get in the way. Plus, it gives me more time to play with these." With his small hands, he held up a toy soldier. "This one is the head of the army. Jace gave him to me. He's at the head because he is just as brave as Jace is, which is a lot." He set the toy on the front line. It was different from the others in the fact that it was older, more weathered, and it was clothed in what Clary could see was a painted-on replica of the black gear Shadowhunters usually wore.

Clary watched as the boy admired his adoptive brother. He was right. Jace was impeccably brave. Though sometimes Clary thought his bravery would get himself killed sometimes. "Max, I've only been training for a year now. I'm just as able to kill demons as you are." Clary said.

"Yea, but you've got like super cool rune powers with extra Angel blood in you. Plus you're a lot older. That doesn't count."

"Oh come on. That hardly counts. And you can't be that much younger than Alec. How old are you?" Clary asked.

"Actually, I'm turning ten today." Max said.

"Wait, WHAT? Your birthday is today? I don't believe you." Clary said, flabbergasted.

"It's true." He nodded towards a Star Wars calendar in the opposite wall. There was a red circle around the 16th of January, today's date.

Suddenly, Clary had an idea.

"So, you're just planning to stay in your room all day and play with toy soldiers?" She asked.

"Yep. That's my plan." Max replied.

"Ooookay then." Clary said. She grabbed the seraph blade and slowly started down the hall. "I completely understand if you don't want to go out with me. I was planning to take you to that really cool comic book store you're always talking about, but I guess I could skip that over!" She called mockingly behind her, letting innocence drip all over her tone.

"Wait! Clary, wait!" She heard Max cry as he began struggling with the sleeves of his coat. Clary walked back to him, knelt down, and buttoned it up.

"You're sure you want to come?" Clary asked, finishing up the last button.

"Yes!" He said with excitement as he shoved the soldier Jace had given him into his pocket.

"Alright. Meet me by the elevator. I just have to grab my keys."

"Okay!" She watched as the little boy sprinted down the hall. She turned back into her room and grabbed her coat and car keys and jammed them into her bag. She shoved her stele into its usual place in the cuff of her boot. Then she looked down at the seraph blade in her hand.

"Just in case." She whispered to herself as she put Dabriel in her bag and walked out the door.


	2. Siege

**Thank you so much to all of you who commented on the first chapter! Especially ****..Bro**** and ****Bookworm24601**** for pointing out my typos and memory flukes! This chapter is for you guys!**

As Clary pulled Luke's old truck up to the curb in front of the comic book store, she silently thanked her werewolf stepfather for letting her borrow it for the week. Since he was out of town, he saw no reason not to let Clary use it for the duration of her stay at the Institute. Of course, her mother disagreed.

"She might need it," He had said to Jocelyn with a smile. "for commuting to and from demon slayings."

"She just got her license not two months ago! Besides, the Lightwoods usually take the subway." Her mother rebutted. "Absolutely not!"

It was that night, the night before her parents left for Alicante that Luke had come into her bedroom and slipped the car keys into her duffel bag. The message was clear: Jocelyn was not to know.

The sound of Max's screech of delight from the backseat pulled Clary from her reverie.

"Is this it? Clary, this is so cool!" She looked in the rearview mirror to see the little Shadowhunter fiddling with his seatbelt. When she cut the old engine and jumped from the passenger seat, she barely had enough time to put enough cash in the parking meter before Max had his face pressed against the glass window boxes of the sci-fi themed building. "Come _on_ Clary! Let's go!" He ran back to her and grabbed her arm, pulling her to the futuristic front doors.

"Hey slow down kid!"

"Don't call me kid." He said in a serious tone.

"Sorry, but don't you want to just stand out here for a minute and take it all in? You've waited this long haven't you?" She admired the neon blue and green sign that read: 'Forbidden Planet: The Place Where Imagination Comes to Life!'

Max made a sarcastic display of himself pondering over that question. He reminded her of Isabelle when she did that in response to Clary refusing to go shopping with her. "Hmm, let me think….No!" He grabbed her arm again and continued his impatient tugging. This time, Clary let him.

When they steped through the doors, they were engulfed in what Simon would say, "a storm of hailing nerds." There were rows and rows of comic books, all equipped with tons of people. The whole store was covered in superhero, anime, and various other comic posters. There were neon signs everywhere, advertising different comic book companies. Clary looked down. Max was just staring, wide eyed.

"Oh…my…Angel." Was all he said as the atmosphere buried him in a trance. Clary stifled a giggle.

"Max, listen to me." She snapped her fingers in front of his face to get him to focus. "Since it's your birthday, I'm letting you browse the store for whatever you like, but you can only get five books, mainly because they are having a buy four get one free sale. Got it?"

"Got it." He replied with a nod of his head. Then he grabbed her hand and pulled her to a shelf.

That was basically how the whole trip went. It was all "Clary, look at this!" or "Clary, check this out!" Her arm was seriously going to be sore the next morning, but she didn't mind. In fact, she was having a little fun herself.

Max ended up with seven books, which he took over to where Clary was leaning against a bookshelf.

"Okay, I can't decide which ones I want to take home. This one," He held up a comic book with the figure of a man in a red and blue suit sitting on top of a building. "Has this guy with a power that lets him walk on walls and shoot spider webs from his wrists!"

"Wow Max, that's-"

"And this guy-" he held up another book with a man in a cape flying over the earth. "-has this awesome super strength _and_ he comes from a planet that blew up, so he's like an alien!"

"Fantastic." Clary replied.

"And _this-_" He held up a comic book with a picture of a man with blonde hair and white wings flying over Manhattan. "-is about a superhero that sprouts wings from his back and goes to live at an Institute with a bunch of other people that also have really cool superpowers. They fight crime and put down bad guys. Like you, Jace, Alec, and Isabelle! Plus, the cover looks like the pictures of Jace you draw in your…" his voice trailed off as he realized what he was saying. "I mean, he just looks like him, that's all."

"Uh huh." Clary eyed Max disapprovingly. _Busted_. She thought.

The boy scrambled to stack five comic books in his hands and placed two others on the bookshelf. "Uh...we should probably check out now." He turned towards the check out desk, but Clary put a hand out to stop him. He avoided her gaze.

"Max…"

"Yes?" He asked sweetly.

"Have you and Jace been going through my sketchbooks again while I'm gone?" I asked with the same sweetness.

The little boy stuck his nose in the air. "Absolutely not! Why ever would you think that?" He said with a bob of his head as he turned and walked towards the growing check-out line, the books lying carefully in his arms.

"Boys." She whispered to herself as she followed him, pulling out her wallet as she went. It was caught on something, and she tried to yank it out.

The cashier was tall and scrawny, with the beginnings of a five o clock shadow growing on his cleft chin. He wore a white polo with a blue name tag that read "HI! My name is Sean." Clary could just see the maroon stain hidden under the plastic.

"Hello. Welcome to Forbidden Planet. Have you found everything okay?" Sean said in a lazy monotone. He slumped over and began scanning the comic books.

"Yes we have." Said Max in an excited tone.

Sean didn't acknowledge him. "That will be 23.46." He began bagging the books.

Suddenly, Clary pulled on her wallet and it came loose, but not without exposing some of the seraph blade along with it. She didn't think much of it, not until she looked up to see the cashier's face.

"What is that?" he nodded his head towards the bag hanging off Clary's shoulder. His bored expression was transformed into a look of intense interest. This shocked her. Seraph blades were protected by glamour, which meant no mundane was supposed to see them. Clary looked closer at the cashier. His eyes were black, as if he had no pupils. She blinked and saw his skin become dry and rough, like scales.

"It's nothing. Let's go." She turned and walked briskly towards the door. Max barely had enough time to grab the shopping bag before she was dragging him by the wrist.

"Miss! You have to pay for those!" She stopped and turned back around. He was still looking at her intensely, like he was waiting, analyzing her movements to see what she would do next. She threw a twenty, a five, and a couple of singles onto the counter.

"Keep the change." She shouted and followed Max out. As the biting chill of January hit her face, she pulled her keys from her pocket and unlocked the truck. "Get in, fast." She demanded to him. The blue eyed boy, knowing not to ask questions in situations such as these, got in. She jumped in the driver's seat and started the car, silently thanking the Angel that the old vehicle still continued to run after thirteen years. She pulled from the curb and sped away from the neon-lit store, scattering a couple of pigeons on the sidewalk.


	3. Situation

**Hey guys! Sorry for not updating. I know it's been a long time, but as a treat, I added some new stuff to the previous chapter that I believe helps the story tie into itself more. I totally appreciate every one of your comments and wish that I could respond to every single one of you. Thanks again for all your support!**

"I'll have some chicken fingers and a side order of fries. But make sure to add lots of ketchup. I like ketchup." Max handed his menu to the waitress and took a sip from his orange soda.

" And for you miss?" the waitress turned her icy blue eyes to Clary, flipping her white blonde hair that was so straight, it looked like icicles had been permanently melted onto her head. Or maybe they were icicles…

"I'll have the pasta marinara and our usual to-go order please." Clary handed her the menu. She took it and walked off; leaving the air cooler than it was before she arrived to their booth. _Yep. Definitely an ice faerie._ She thought and took a sip of her Coke. She looked across the table at Max, who had his head bent over the shiny new cover of a comic book. "Are we planning to start a conversation here or are you just going to keep your head bent over that thing all day?"Clary asked him.

The boy's head snapped up. "Huh? Oh…sorry." He closed the book and slipped it back into the bag. He glanced over at the click of silverware on ceramic and the bustling of waiters around dining room of Taki's to make sure no one was listening. "Hey Clary, can I tell you something? And you promise you won't say anything to anyone else?"

"Sure Max, what's up?" She replied, pulling her green cap from her red curls and sticking it into the pocket of her coat next to her.

Max leaned across the table to whisper in her ear. She met him halfway.

"Since I'm turning ten, my dad said I could start my training soon."

Clary smiled. "That's great! You must be excited."

"Not really." Max's face drooped into a sad grimace. He slumped in his seat so fast the booth jerked to the side a little.

"What do you mean? Every time I come over here for training, I see you running down the halls, pretending you're fighting demons. I see you watch Jace in the training room. I know you've been waiting for your chance to train for a long time. And now all of the sudden you act like your parents are forcing you to eat a bowl of Isabelle's beef stew? I mean, no offense to her, but the special ingredients she put into it don't exactly make it cutting edge-"

"Clary, this is what I'm trying to tell you. I can't train because I'm not a Shadowhunter."He confessed. At first, Clary wasn't sure that she had heard him correctly, but when she saw the look on his face, she leaned back in her seat and sighed.

"Max, that's ridiculous. Of course you're a Shadowhunter." she said.

"No. I'm not." He retorted.

"Yes. You are."

"No." He crossed his arms angrily.

"Yes." Clary crossed her arms as well.

"Clary, I'm not a Shadowhunter!" Max shouted. A couple of nixies glanced at their table, but quickly turned away, too absorbed in their own problems to notice.

"Max," Clary said in a more hushed tone. "Your parents are Shadowhunters, Isabelle is a Shadowhunter. Alec is a Shadowhunter. You, by blood and by definition, _are_ a Shadowhunter, and you know that. What is this all about anyway?"

Max huffed. This was a moment where Clary would raise one of her eyebrows at him sarcastically like Jace always did to her, but of course she still had not yet mastered the coveted technique. Instead, she sufficed for a simple, "Go on."

Max uncrossed his arms and placed them on the table. "My dad told me once that there is more to being a Shadowhunter than just having Nephilium blood. He said you had to be brave, strong, and a quick thinker. He said you have to be able to make life or death decisions in a pinch, and not let emotions get in the way of what you have to do."

"Your father is a smart man." Clary said.

"I know, and he's right. But what if I can't do any of those things? What if I am not able to make the right choices at the right moments? I'm not like Alec or Isabelle or Jace. Or even you. What happens if I make the wrong decision and something goes south? I could risk getting someone hurt, or worse!"

Clary looked into his deep blue eyes that were so like his Mayrse's. She hadn't known Max on such a personal level like this before. They had talked sometimes, like when Clary would stay for dinner after her daily training practices or when Max needed help reading anime, but they had never really held a very strong conversation before. This was uncharted territory to her. Still, she had to say something.

" Max," She began. "You're scared that once you get out in the field and actually start fighting demons for real, you'll mess up. I get that. I can't tell you how many times I've second guessed going out on demon raids with your brothers and sister. Fighting demons is dangerous, and at any moment, one slip up could cause one or more of them to get hurt."

"Your point?"

"My point, and I do have one, is that having these fears are completely natural, and every Shadowhunter goes through them at your age. Well, except me. Recognizing them doesn't make you any less of what you are. And you are a Shadowhunter Max. It's in your blood. What you've got to do is train your body and mind to focus on the task at hand, and not let fear or emotions cloud your choices. Just like your dad told you. Eventually, you will mess up, and you will make the wrong choice, but that's how you learn. It all comes with training, and sooner or later worrying about those fears will seem less of a problem."

"Will they ever go away?"

Clary looked over to see Max's toy soldier sitting on the table. She thought of Jace. "No. They won't."

Then the ice faerie came back with their orders, and Clary refrained from saying any more.


End file.
